Who We Are

Minnehaha Creek Watershed District is a local unit of government
responsible for managing and protecting the water resources in
one of the largest and most heavily-used urban watersheds in Minnesota.

The watershed stretches 178-square miles from St. Bonifacius
to south Minneapolis and includes Lake Minnetonka, the
Minneapolis Chain of Lakes, Minnehaha Creek, and Minnehaha
Falls. It includes eight major creeks, 129 lakes, and thousands of
wetlands. Learn more about the watershed.

Am I In The District?

Street Address *

City *

NOTE: Do not include "MN" in the city field. Type only "Excelsior" and not "Excelsior, MN."

Variances and Exceptions Rule

1. VARIANCES AUTHORIZED

2. STANDARD

To grant a variance, the Board of Managers must determine,
based on a showing by the applicant:

(a) that because of special conditions inherent to
the property, which do not apply generally to other land or structures in the
District, strict compliance with a provision of a District rule will cause
undue hardship to the applicant or property owner;

(b) that the hardship was not created by the
landowner, the landowner's agent or representative, or a contractor. Economic
hardship is not grounds for issuing a variance;

(c) that granting such variance will not merely
serve as a convenience to the applicant,

(d) that there is no feasible and prudent
alternative to the proposed activity requiring the variance; and

(e) that granting the variance will not impair or
be contrary to the intent of these rules.

3. TERM

A variance or exception will remain valid only as long as the
underlying permit remains valid.

4. VIOLATION

A violation of any condition of approval of a permit subject
to a variance shall constitute grounds for termination of the variance.

5. EXCEPTIONS

The Board of Managers may grant an exception from a provision
of these rules requiring a particular treatment or management method, or
setting forth a design specification of such a method, on a determination that
the proposed application, with such further conditions as the Board may impose,
will achieve a greater degree of water resource protection than would strict
compliance with the provision.

6. SUPERMAJORITY REQUIREMENT

A variance or exception must be approved by a
two-thirds majority of managers voting.